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One‐year incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome in Latino poultry processing workers and other Latino manual workers
Author(s) -
Cartwright Michael S.,
Walker Francis O.,
Newman Jill C.,
Schulz Mark R.,
Arcury Thomas A.,
Grzywacz Joseph G.,
Mora Dana C.,
Chen Haiying,
Eaton Bethany,
Quandt Sara A.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.22250
Subject(s) - medicine , carpal tunnel syndrome , incidence (geometry) , poultry farming , odds ratio , office workers , occupational exposure , odds , occupational medicine , physical therapy , environmental health , surgery , veterinary medicine , logistic regression , operations management , physics , optics , economics
Objective To determine the incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) over 1 year in Latino poultry processing workers. Methods Symptoms and nerve conduction studies were used to identify Latino poultry processing workers (106 wrists) and Latinos in other manual labor occupations (257 wrists) that did not have CTS at baseline, and these individuals were then evaluated in the same manner 1 year later. Results Based on wrists, the 1‐year incidence of CTS was higher in poultry processing workers than non‐poultry manual workers (19.8% vs. 11.7%, P = 0.022). Poultry workers had a higher odds (1.89; P = 0.089) of developing CTS over 1 year compared to non‐poultry manual workers. Discussion Latino poultry processing workers have an incidence of CTS that is possibly higher than Latinos in other manual labor positions. Latino poultry workers' high absolute and relative risk of CTS likely results from the repetitive and strenuous nature of poultry processing work. Am. J. Ind. Med. 57:362–369, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.